Friday, May 25, 2012

Bede the Venerable, Theologian

The Commemoration of Bede the Venerable, Theologian

May 25, 2012

Today we remember
Bede the Venerable (973-733/5 ad). He was the last of the Early Church
Fathers and the first to compile the history of the English church. Born in Northumbria, Bede’s parents took him to a local monastery
in northern England at the age of seven for his education, and
he never left the monastic life. He became a deacon at age 19, which was quite
early. (The conical age was twenty-five.) He was ordained a priest when he was
thirty. He rarely left the monastery and devoted the rest of his life to
teaching and writing. He once wrote, “I have spent all my life in this
monastery, applying myself entirely to the study of the Scriptures; and, amid
the observance of the discipline of the Rule and the daily task of singing in
the church, it has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write.”

Bede was, in fact, the
most learned man of his time. He was a prolific writer. He published 25
commentaries on books of the Bible (he felt these were his best works), and it
is said “his commentaries are still fresh today.” He also published works on
the history of the saints, grammar, metrics, and chronology (he introduced the
dating of years from the birth of Christ). Today he is probably known for his
works on history. His careful use of sources provided a model for historians in
the Middle Ages. His book The
Ecclesiastical History of the English People, is still the best source of
English history from 597 to 731, when the Anglo-Saxon culture developed and
Christianity triumphed.

He had just finished
a translation of the Gospel of John into Old English when he died. His most
famous disciple, Cuthbert, reported that died with the words of the Gloria
Patri on his lips. He received the title “Venerable” within two generations of
his death and is buried in Durham Cathedral as one of England’s greatest saints.

Collect for the Day

Heavenly Father, you
called your servant Bede, while still a child, to devote his life to your
service in the disciplines of religion and scholarship. Grant that as he
labored in the Spirit to bring the riches of your truth to his generations, so
we, in our various vocations, may strive to make you known in all the world.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Appropriate prayers include

For universities, colleges, and schools

For students and teachers

For biblical scholars and translators

For the teaching and learning of history
in general, and church history in particular